Beneath the Ozone
by False Shepard
Summary: Companion to 'If I Was To Die In The Morning'. Years later Snow figures it's about time to tell the children his version of Lightning's story, hard to say what's made up and what isn't. Semi-Sonfic, implied Flight.


**_A/N: This is a COMPAINION story to a previous story 'If I Was To Die In The Morning' by no means a sequel, it takes place in its universe that has an altered ending to the original game. Read that first if you want, I think I kinda summed up the altered ending, somewhat, here, then ruined everything else._**

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><p><em>Our promised meeting place, 'It's the same as always, right?' Under cover of a cloudy sky, if there aren't any stars, let's just become stars. While making fun of each other, while loving one another...<em>

'_Say, where are you?' 'Somewhere on Earth.' Since we're no astronauts, so if it's anywhere beneath the ozone it's no problem._

'_Okay, I'm on my way.' You must want to cause a racket until morning in our special haven._

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><p>Time can change everything as it rolls on by, ignoring who is in way and plowing through them like a multi-ton train. It was no different for the people of Cocoon and Gran Pulse, they lived on, day by day, learning, growing, adapting to the world around them. Now and then they would find themselves upon the hilltop, remembering those they have lost.<p>

They didn't mourn forever; they knew it wasn't what they wanted. Serah Farron went through a phase where she wanted to go out there, save her sister and her lover, Vanille was more than happy to join her, but other dreams held them back, then reality wouldn't let them go.

So they waited.

Five years since that fateful day the youngest Farron finally tied the knot with her fiancé. She never changed her last name; she couldn't let the Farron name disappear. While Snow did muse changing his, he knew Lightning would kill him if she was to return.

On their third wedding anniversary Serah finally broke it to Snow, she had finally given up hope on her sister returning, Vanille still held on. Hope did too. While Serah had named their first child after Claire, he searched high and low for the perfect name so he could name their second after Light.

Hope and Vanille had named their son after Fang.

Now fifteen years since the day Lightning and Fang were sealed away in crystal, Snow found himself watching over the three children. Serah was cooking for the evening's meal; everyone was due over, to celebrate, to mourn. Snow looked at his eldest daughter and smiled, he couldn't mourn the loss of Lightning, not when his daughters reminded him of her daily.

"Dad, do you want to play?" their eldest, Clarissa, asked as she and the other two cleared off the Monopoly Board. Snow thought about it for a moment, knowing how the kids could be when playing this game. He nodded and sat himself down. "Liora is the banker, Kiba likes to cheat."

"I do not!" Kiba shouted, the two girls glared at him. He deflated slightly. Snow even gave him a look, as his youngest sighed.

"He tries to bum you outta your money." Liora muttered, arms crossed, Snow chuckled, it was a rather Lightning-like thing of her to do, how much he wished that they could meet their Aunt one day.

"I do not!"

"Let's not be pointing fingers." Snow said as he took the tray with the money away from Liora. "I'll bank, and keep my eye on Kiba."

The game dragged out, Serah had checked up on them a couple times and Vanille eventually arrived, waving hello and kissing Kiba on the forehead (much to his protest) and joined Serah with the food. The children eventually grew bored of the game, Kiba unable to bankrupt anyone they were in a stalemate. Snow sighed as he looked at the children then the pictures up on the fireplace mantel, the only one of Lightning and Fang together catching his eye.

"Dad?" Clarissa asked, seeing what he was doing. She looked at the picture and frowned. "You miss Auntie Lightning and Auntie Fang, don't you?" she asked, Snow gave her a half smile, she was a smart one.

"Let's clean up, I think you guys are old enough to hear your Auntie Lightning's story." He said, sparing a glance at the kitchen. Serah refused to children the story about Fang and Lightning, and Snow figured, it was time, time that they learned about them. All three of children's' faces lit up. While they still didn't know much about either of them the two girls took fascination in anything Lightning related, probably because they wanted their Aunt to be there for them, support them, show them things neither Serah nor Snow could.

"No! Clary! It doesn't go like that! It goes like this!" Liora tried to show her sister how to fold up the board, but ended up doing it wrong. Clarissa snatched it back and quickly had the box put back together before Kiba could finish sorting the property cards. Snow got up and closed the door as the children sat down on the couch; he didn't want Serah to hear the story. He looked back at the children, wondering how to start it.

"We want to hear the story!" Liora shouted as she bounced up and down, Kiba scowling that he was pushed off to the side, he wanted to sit beside the youngest Farron, but the older one had sat in the middle. "Auntie Lightie's story!" Snow thought for a moment, trying to think of a good way to start the story.

"This story is about a girl named Claire, the very same you're named after Clarissa." He looked at his eldest. "But she's now known as Lightning, or Light. Who you are named after, Liora."

"I'm named after Auntie Fang! That's what Mom told me!" Kiba spoke right up; pointing to himself as he puffed his chest out proudly, Snow had to wonder where he got that from.

"Yea yea, I know that." Snow muttered. "Anyway." He took a breath, trying to get himself into the tone of the story. "Lightning… her life's tale is a bloody trail, and her name fits like a glove."

"Fast as thunder!" Kiba shouted, Snow sighed, he wasn't going to get far like this, Clarissa glared at him.

"Lightning is faster than thunder!"

"No human can travel at the speed of light!"

Snow reached forward and covered both of the children's mouths with his hands.

"When Lightning and Serah were your age, their daddy died." He explained, the children already knew that they don't have grandparents, except Kiba, he still had his granddaddy. "Five years later, their mommy died. Claire changed after that day. Serah didn't like it, they fought a lot, and then one day they just snapped. Her sister sighed as she slammed the door, she said to her 'I'm Claire no more, my life's dream is to kill for green, but first I'll join the Corps.'"

Clarissa made the motion to open her mouth but Snow held his finger up to his lips to silence her.

"Her sister said, 'You're just a girl, what makes you think that you won't sink.' 'My name is Light, and I'll make things right, my playground is the world.'" He stated, almost a musical tone to his story telling as he picked up a beat with the rhymes.

"Basic turned her gun to gold, soon had it made, she hit by trade, amassing kills, she proved her skills." He paused, shivering at the memory. "Make your blood run cold." He glanced at the photo of Lightning and Serah. "She was in service for only a few years before she made it Sergeant. That's four ranks. That's went I met your aunt for the first time."

"See Kiba! Auntie Light is better than Auntie Fang!"

"Hey!"

"I once saw Lightning at a bar, sippin' rye with some apple pie, with a distance stare, like she didn't care." Snow started up again. "I must admit my lips went numb, some butter bar said-"

"What's a butter bar?" Kiba asked, Clarissa looked at him.

"Someone who's drunk, like what happens when Uncle Yuj drinks too much; his face get's all red."

The fact that Clarissa knew that scared Snow a little bit.

"With his face all red he said to me. 'She's too good, you're drifting wood.'" He frowned. "Even then, to this day I have no idea what he meant. "He also told me to run, but that's when Auntie Lightning decided to pay attention to me."

"Lightning said, 'Sir keep your peace, my heart is free, and so is he.' She had moved in seat, showing the man the weapon she had kept with her, her gunblade, Blazefire. The man had snarled at her as he removed the strap on his own gun holster."

"He drew his weapon before he replied, but Light was hot and he was not." He made the motion of pulling out a gunblade and pointing at his nephew. "He lay dead while Lightning fled crimson on her side."

"The cape!" Liora shouted, clapping, she too had taken a liking to the idea of a having a cape, but Serah had told her she couldn't have one until she was older.

"Snow, dear, what's going on? It's seems awfully quiet in there." Serah opened the door, her husband looked up at her like a deer caught in the headlights, he couldn't cover it up, because in a matter of three seconds.

"Uncle Snow is telling us about Auntie Lightning!"

What would happen…

Serah's eyes flashed dangerously for a second as she looked at him. He knew how much she didn't want to tell the children about Lightning and Fang, not when they acted like them more and more each day that passed, it was painful for her. Snow sighed, he knew he needed to stand up to the Farron.

"They have the right to know."

"They're not coming back! So why break their hearts with false hope!"

"You were breaking them by not telling them!" Snow shouted back, slightly upset that he had, he loved Serah so much. "Every night they would ask me, because they knew not to ask you, I couldn't bring myself to go behind your back. I figured, the day of the fifteenth anniversary, they should know exactly why we're celebrating when no one else is."

"Snow…"

"During the purge that started the mess before the Fall, Lightning gave up her rank as a soldier to save her sister. We did our best, we saved the many lives, but we lost a lot too. We ended up in Lake Bresha and that's when we broke apart. That's when I met Fang for the first time."

"Auntie Fang!" Kiba shouted, his hands in the air, Serah was surprised how attached the children were to the two people that were absent from their lives, it hurt her to think about them still, but she knew that Lightning and Fang wanted to be together, so that's why they did what they did.

"The real story started in Palumpolum, when Light and Fang met for the first time, I wasn't there because was with Hope but that's when their relationship sparked.

"Oerba." Another voice interpreted them, Vanille had walked in, standing behind the couch, and she looked a little tired herself. "They got together in Oerba, I still remember that night."

"I know that Auntie Lightning's and Auntie Fang's relationship is different then what the teachers tell us at school." Clarissa muttered. "They loved each other the same way Mom and Dad do, right?"

Vanille nodded.

"When we defeated Orphan, Cocoon started to fall from the sky. The only way to save it was to have two Pulse L'Cie become Ragnarok to save the worlds. Fang and Lightning went and did it, much to all of our surprises, they knew what would happen to them if they succeeded." He paused, knowing that he didn't go into deep detail, but the children were smart enough to understand what he meant. They had made the ultimate sacrifice. Serah bowed her head as Snow continued the story.

"Lightning said, 'this could be my last I guess, I gotta go, and now you know, I want a song, to live for long, it's a fair request.'" She walked over to the fireplace, where the picture stood, knowing that the children were watching her.

"Lightning…"

She didn't say anything as she quickly retreated back to the kitchen Vanille swiftly following her, worried, everyone knew how Serah held Lightning close to her heart. Snow frowned as he watched his wife leave, this wasn't the ending he wanted, but at least, he could get a few more words in.

"Fang and Lightning, they're watching over you guys from the Crystal Pillar. So as you three grow older. I want you to make them proud."

"We've been named after them father. That alone should make them proud." Clarissa smiled. Snow chuckled as he ruffled her pink hair, Clary even kept it as long as Lightning's. Kiba's was shaggy and wild. He had somehow acquired Grandpa Bart's dark hair instead of a nasty combination of light orange and white from his parents. Liora was blonde but she didn't cut it close to the blonde stereotype. Her Farron genes were to thank for that. At least, that's what Snow figured Lightning would say.

Kiba started to pull out all sorts of movies to watch while fighting with Liora on who is the better aunt. Of course both would be biased. Clarissa sat on the couch her novel open as she read. Snow sighed and checked his watch, Hope, Sazh and Daji should be here soon. He put away the game box and sat on the couch opting to watch the children instead of doing anything else.

He could hear a little bit of shuffling outside before the doorbell rang. Clary shot off the couch in a flash; she loved answering the door, even if Serah disapproved half the time. There was a silence; no one walking in the home shouting their hellos, Snow frowned.

"Clary who's at the door?" Serah called out, their eldest never responded as Serah walked across the house. "Clary you just don't answer the door to any... body..." Snow heard her trail off for a moment. _"Lightning?"_

Snow bolted quickly standing where he could hear and see everything at the front door but wouldn't be seen.

"Serah." Lightning Farron, alive and well and hadn't aged a day since the Fall was with an Oerba Yun Fang, who was just as alive and well. He watched as the two sisters quickly closed the gap between them and pulled each other into a hug.

"You're finally home." He heard Serah whisper, she was crying, Snow knew it.

"I'm home."

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><p><strong>AN: **This has been sitting in my head for a while, then with the other stories coming out about storytelling to the younger generation, I just had to, while I don't think it came out as good, I kept with the theme of 'If I Was To Die In The Morning' and stuck it to a song, while not obvious, it's base is 'A Girl Named Tex' with altered lyrics to fit Lightning, by Trocadero.

I did try doing writing everyone's reactions, but it just ruined it.

Clarissa – 'most bright, most famous' – related name _Claire  
><em>Liora – 'God's gift of _Light_ to me'

Kiba – Japanese for _Fang_.


End file.
